The Chant of the Barbie Dolls

That's how I'd be forced to describe reaction in the House of Commons to Chancellor George Osborne's announcement that the British Government was providing a £7billion line of credit to the Irish government. MPs for some reason seemed deflated as opposed to outraged as Osborne outlined the details, and on the whole seemed perplexed by this, as if, this late on in the financial crisis, who's going to miss a few extra billion squandered on the Irish? Like - "where did I leave my biro again - oh never mind, I'm sure I'll pick one up from behind the sofa".

Personally, I found this utterly perplexing.

Not one outraged Tory back bencher, not one quippicism about this is how we repay them for all those years of bombs and terrorism and so on. Even John Redwood could only bestir himself enough to hope that Britain wasn't going to start lending money directly, all over the place. There was even a half hearted attempt to suggest a bit of usury wouldn't go amiss, as one MP hoped the chancellor would be charging the Irish more interest than we're paying on our loans. Osborne was aghast - what an ungentlemanly idea (money through trade, how awful). Definitely, this is the politest I've heard the Commons on such a contentious issue in a very long time.

What left me simultaneously perplexed, and I still find perplexing, but definitely doesn't leave me feeling polite, is the question as to why Osborne's sudden magnanimity? "To help a friend in need". Oh dear. The last time a I recall a politician lip-synching THAT phrase prominently it was Blair in Washington at Bush's side. And we all know how well things went after THAT.

Oh well, I suppose all those UK based hedge funds and banks with massive exposures to what are now state owned Irish banks teetering precariously on the brink of implosion are just going to have to live with the consequences of their poor investment decisions.

NAAAAAAHHHHHHT.